Our Song

And now... Something completely different.

Her laughs, her cries, the things she says, it's all music to my ears. Whether the melody be one of joy or sorrow, her chocolate sweet tunes send chills up and down my spine.

Funny thing is she doesn't even realize it.

Her laugh makes me laugh. Her sobs make me cry. Whether she notices it or not, I absorb her melodious emotions like a sponge, and reflect them like a mirror.

That's why, no matter what, I'll always be there for her. I'll share the weight of her pain, and be there to join in her laughter.

Her laugh...

The way her shoulders bounce with each cheerful note she exhales, the way her lips curve into the perfect smile, and the sheer joy in her eyes that not even an orchestra could express with a thousand trumpets...

... It fills me with enough happiness to fuel the sun.

Her cry...

The way the warm tears flow down her cheeks, the way she tightly embraced me and buries her face in my chest, the way even her sorrow is beautiful, so delicate...

... It blows my mind, and fills me with her sadness.

So I embrace her tightly, tell her it'll be okay, and try not to cry myself.

"So there's a study here that proves that different types of music can affect people's moods." A young brunette said, tossing a magazine she was reading onto the coffee table standing before her.

A raven haired trainer with dark brown eyes glanced at the open magazine. He scanned over the article the girl had been talking about.

"I can't say I'm surprised." He admitted, glancing at her to find she was pulling out her iPod and a pair of headphones.

"Oh whatever," she said with a smirk, rolling her eyes. Her name was May Maple, a student at The University of Johto.

"What are you doing?" the boy asked as he watched her twist the headphones into her ears. His name was Ash Ketchum. He also attended the university.

"I'm listening to music, duh." May said jokingly. "What? Did you think I was actually going to listen to Mr. Harrison's speech recording?"

Ash laughed and shook his head. "No, I guess not." he admitted. "You should though. You need all the studying you can get."

"Pfft, I'm not filling my head with that evolution crap." she said as she stared at the glowing screen of her iPod. Her thumb was racing about the screen as she browsed through her lists of songs.

Ash smiled and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay," he said, raising his hands. "But you clearly aren't just listening to music." he stated, shooting a glance down at the magazine article on the table.

...

"Well, I'm going to make different playlists full of songs that make me happy." May began to explain as she continued to look through her playlist. "I'll be happy all the time!"

Ash grinned and stood up. "It sounds fool proof." he said, stepping over to May. "But there are hundreds of emotions, do you really only want to feel one?"

"But happiness is great." May said, looking up at Ash.

"No doubt," Ash admitted. "But still-" He was cut off when May pressed the play button and her new playlist began to stream through her headphones into her ears. She had a habit of humming whatever it was she was listening to. Some people found it annoying, but it never failed to bring a smile to Ash's face.

"Here," May said, plucking her left earbud out and sticking it into Ash's ear. "We'll be happy together."

Studies say music affects your moods and emotions. It makes sense, there's clearly an emotional power behind different beats, whether it be to get people to dance at a wedding or to add thrill to a horror film.

I'm feeling happy right now. I have a stupid grin on my face, smiling from ear to ear. I can't tell if it's from the music or from her...

... Or both.

Who am I kidding? It's probably her. It wouldn't matter if the air was as soundness as a rock. Her presence, her joy, sends emotions through me like nothing else.

Not even music, although it can help.

Her smile is the definition of perfection. Not even the most talented artist could completely capture the innocence and sheer glee written in it.

From her pearly white teeth to her soft lips...

... At least... They look soft... I've never actually touched them.

"Do you ever wonder if the shapes of the clouds in the sky are God telling us a story?" May asked. She and Ash were lying in the cool grass, gazing up at the overcast sky.

"It's an interesting thought." Ash said. He still had one of May's iPod earbuds plugged into his ear. Together they listened to a cheerful melody Ash had never heard of.

"I asked Brendan the same thing the other day." May began, plucking a blade of grass from the ground. "He thought it was dumb."

Ash frowned. "Well, we all know how Brendan is." Ash began. "He likes to think negatively like that."

May was definition of happy. She always did her best to think positively. Brendan was the complete opposite. It was as if he hated the idea of joy.

It boggled Ash's mind that they were a couple.

"I guess you're right." May said, playing around with the grass blade and twisting it around with her fingers. "He needs to lighten up."

Suddenly, a grin grew across the brunettes face. "Hey! Maybe the music will help!" She said. She paused her song and pulled her headphones from her and Ash's ears. "Maybe some happy music will make him happy!" She said. With that, she leapt up to her feet and dashed towards the dorms. "See you later, Ash!" she called out as she ran.

The happiness left with her presence. Ash chuckled to himself and rolled onto his stomach, watching the girl he held so dear disappear.

"It won't work." he muttered to himself. "If May couldn't break through Brendan's cold attitude, what chance does a song have?"

He lifted himself up from the ground, sticking his hands in his pockets. A cool autumn breeze blew through the air, sending a chill down his spine. He zipped up his hoodie and made his way back to his dorm.

He pulled out his key and unlocked the door, twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open.

"Pika pi!"

A yellow Pokémon who had been resting on one of the two beds lifted his head and smiled to see his trainer enter the room. He jumped off the bed and nuzzled his head against Ash's leg.

"Hey, buddy," Ash said with a smile. He crouched down to stroke his Pokémon's fur. "Where's Paul?" he asked, looking around to see his roommate was nowhere to be found.

"Pika," Pikachu said with a shrug.

"He's probably out with Dawn." He murmured. Why does always seem like I'm the only single guy around here?

She desperately wants him to be happy, she tries so hard to make him smile. She wants him to join her in her laughter, to sing that merry tune.

But he's not that kind of guy. He's laid-back, serious, wants to get thing done and do it right. He's a workaholic, the kind of guys who stays at work all night. Whether it's because of his parents' deaths that make him so solemn, or something else, I'll probably never know.

But I do know one thing. His music beats don't match hers. She's up-tempo, he's slow and smooth. It doesn't matter how hard she tries, their musical beats will never be in sync.

He either needs to speed up, or she needs to slow down.

And of course that'll never happen.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"Coming." Ash called, snapping awake with a start. He glanced at the clock and found he had been napping for about an hour. He shuffled to the door and opened it, surprised to find May there.

"Oh, hey, May," Ash said with a smile.

"Hey... Ash..." she said slowly, pulling her headphones from her ears. Ash could tell something was wrong.

"You know how... Studies say music can... affect your mood?" She asked, bowing her head slightly and blinking several times.

"Yeah?" Ash said, unsure of what was going on.

"It's… It's not working right now!" She said before bursting into tears and covering her face with her hands. Upon instinct, Ash reached out and embraced the crying girl.

Her cry...

The raven haired boy gently tried to shush her and rub her back. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. He could feel the fresh tears through his T-Shirt.

The way the warm tears flow down her cheeks, the way she tightly embraced me and buries her face in my chest, the way she somehow makes it so her sorrow beautiful, so delicate...

... It blows my mind, and fills me with her sadness.

So I embrace her tightly, tell her it'll be okay, and try not to cry myself.

The funny thing is, I don't even know what's wrong.

"What happened?" Ash asked, not letting go of the brunette.

The fragile girl looked up at him, trying to calm down. "I went to Brendan's dorm... You know... To have him listen to that music..." she began to explain. Ash could already see where this was going. "I knocked on the door and he answered. Before I could even say anything, he told me he couldn't handle our relationship anymore. He broke up with me..."

A new stream of tears flowed from her eyes. She laid her head on his chest, crying lightly. Ash glanced down the hall to see Paul and Dawn walking to his dorm room. Upon seeing May, their eyes widened. Ash motioned with his head to walk away. They nodded in understanding before quietly walking away in the opposite direction.

"Come on in." Ash said, not wanting to attract more attention. He guided May into his room and gently closed the door. Pikachu watched in curiosity as the two sat down on Ash's bed.

It hurt Ash to see her like this.

"Want me to go beat him up?" Ash joked, trying to lighten the mood.

May shook her head. "N-no..."

Ash had foreseen this breakup the day May and Brendan got together. They were complete opposites; they literally had nothing in common. He was surprised they had managed to stay together as long as they did.

"Listen, everything is going to be okay." Ash said, as May continued to sob.

Such a sad song.

Ash checked his watch to see it was slightly passed noon. "Let's go get lunch, just you and me."

I do my best to be there for her in her times of need, whether it be because she's heartbroken or a few pennies short to buy a coke. She's gone through a few heartbreaks before, I've never understood why. Who would be so careless as to let go of such an amazing girl?

(Well, Wally was actually gay, so that makes a little sense.)

Funny how I how don't understand how all those boys let go of her, yet I've never been bold enough to make a move myself.

Ash and May remained fairly quiet, the only noise they were making was the clinking of silverware on their plates. Pikachu sat on the ground, eating some Pokémon food with a side if ketchup.

May kept her eyes on her food while Ash watched with worry. "Studies say that it's healthy to focus on your food while you're eating." May said, finally looking up at Ash. "Rather than eating while watching TV or reading."

Ash smiled a little and looked down at his food. "Oh yeah? That's interesting."

May nodded, still not smiling. "Yeah, I guess that's one way to try to stay in shape." she said.

...

Ash took a deep breath as he finished his food, laying his fork down. "You never finished your last experiment with the other study." he told her, wiping his face with a napkin. "You know, about happy music?"

May looked down and shook her head. "No, it doesn't work. That study was bull." she muttered.

"Aw, don't say that." Ash said, lifting her chin to get her to look up at him.

"I was miserable, the music didn't help." May said, furrowing her brow. "I'm still miserable."

Ash gestured to her. "Pull out your iPod. We're going for a walk." he said.

May pulled out the device and stuck an earbud in her left ear while Ash stuck one in his right.

"Press the play button."

They say a picture's worth a thousand words.

Well song is worth a thousand emotions.

Music is a powerful thing. An artist can express everything that they're feeling without even saying it. The tones, beats, and cords do all the talking.

Those emotions can attach onto listener. It can make them laugh or make them cry. It can get them to dance or sing them to sleep.

That's the power of music.

But sometimes, it needs help to spread that emotion.

Within a minute of listening to May's playlist, May was humming the tune like she always did. Warmth rushed over Ash's body as he saw her smile again. In two minutes they both were skipping down the sidewalk, Pikachu happily trotting behind. They got some strange glances, but they didn't care. In three minutes, Ash tripped and fell, causing May to burst into laughter. Together they laughed until their sides hurt.

There's that melody I know and love. Ash thought as he listened to May. It had been only two hours, but he had missed it all the same.

May reached out and gave Ash a hand, pulling him back up to his feet. They looked at each other for a moment, trying to suppress their chuckles and giggles.

May suddenly reached out and hugged Ash. "Thank you, Ash." She said as she squeezed him. "You always know how to make me feel better."

Ash smiled as he felt May's warmth around him. He reached out and hugged her back.

All these years, all I've ever wanted was to be the one to be in sync with her beat, her fast paced, jolly beat. All these years, I've so many chances to tell her, to show her how I feel.

I want she to hear and appreciate my song, and realize it fits perfectly with hers.

But what if doesn't work out? What if she doesn't like "my song?" How would that affect me? Not even her smile would be able to bring me back up.

Just three words, I just want to hear her say three beautiful words to me. It would be the song of the century.

"So how's May?"

Ash looked up from the dinner table to see Brendan walking over to him, sitting down next to him.

Ash shrugged. "She's recovering." he told him.

"That's good." Brendan said with a nod.

...

...

...

"So why'd you do it?" Ash asked. He had for so long wanted to ask one of May's ex's the question. "How could you let go of such an amazing woman?"

Brendan shrugged. "One man's gold is another man's garbage." he said. Ash's reaction was rather immediate and serious. "Don't take that the wrong way. May is by no means trash. She's a truly wonderful girl."

Upon hearing this, Ash let go of Brendan's jacket collar and lowered his tightly balled fist.

"She's just not my wonderful girl." Brendan continued, brushing himself off. "There's no spark. We just don't go well together."

"You hurt her." Ash informed him. "She was crying at my doorstep."

"I know, I know." Brendan said, taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair. "I hated to do it, but I knew it was the best for all three of us."

Ash raised a brow. "Three?" he asked.

Brendan smirked. "I think you know who the third person is." he said knowingly.

"What do I have to do with this?" Ash asked, taking a bite from his sandwich.

Brendan sat back in his seat. "Don't play dumb with me." he said with a chuckle. "I've noticed the way you look at her, how you interact with her. I have since the day she and I became a couple."

Ash let out an annoyed sigh, displeased that someone was able to tell. "Okay, you got me." he admitted.

Brendan's smirk grew as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "You need to go to her, tell her how you feel." he said. "If you don't she'll just end up with another guy who'll break her heart yet again."

Ash didn't say anything.

"I'm confident that there is no other man on this entire planet that would be more fit for May than you." he said, putting on his hat and standing up from the table.

"The longer you wait the more May will get hurt." he said as he put on his hat. "And the harder it'll be for you to tell her." With that, he walked away.

Timing is essential in a song, every beat and note has to be perfectly timed for a song to sound good.

But there's never a specific time to start a song. If it's a fantastic song, it doesn't matter when it begins, it'll still sound great.

Brendan just showed me that.

Why have I waited all these years? I could list a hundred times that would have been perfect to start that song, to tell her how I feel, to sing those three words.

I've gotten tired of waiting, I want to hear the song, our song.

Pikachu clung tightly to Ash's jacket as his trainer dashed across the campus. The boy's feet hit the concrete sidewalk hard as the female dorm building came into view. Not slowing down, he dashed into the building and up the stairs. He reached the second story and quickly found the door to her dorm.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and collect himself. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." he murmured to Pikachu. He reached out and gently knocked on the door.

"Coming." a feminine voice on the other side said, but Ash could tell it wasn't May. A young brunette with a pair of pigtails opened the door.

"Oh, hey, Lyra," Ash said. "Is May here?"

Lyra shook her head. "No, I haven't seen May at all today actually." she told him.

Ash sighed in disappointment. "Well, would you have any idea where she is?" he asked.

Lyra shrugged. "She's probably with Brendan."

She didn't know.

"Oh, um... Okay." Ash muttered. With that, he walked away. "All that running for nothing..."

He used the elevator to lower down to the first floor and strolled out of the building. He looked up at the sky to find it was bright orange with a few dotted pink clouds. He shivered and zipped up his jacket as a cool evening breeze blew by.

Figuring he had nothing better to do, he made his way back to the boy's dorm. He used the elevator to get to the floor his room was on, and made his way down the hall. He was surprised to see a familiar brunette sitting on the ground by his door as he rounded the corner.

She looked up and smiled at him. He exchanged glances with Pikachu before walking towards her.

"Hey, May," he said, raising a brow. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"I was waiting for you, of course." she said with a giggle. He helped her to her feet. "You know, I was thinking. There are hundreds of different unique emotions; it would be a shame to only experience one, even if it was happiness."

She was always such a thinker, another reason he loved her so much. "It's even healthy to feel sad or angry every now and then." she continued. "Life's like a bag of M&Ms. What's the fun of M&Ms if they're all yellow?"

Ash shrugged. "I thought it was 'life's like a box of cho-'." He began before being shushed by May. He let out a chuckle. "So did you come all this way just to tell me that?"

May shook her head, averting her gaze downward as she twisted her heel into the carpet. "No, I have something else to tell you." she began. She took a step forward. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What she was about to say must have been hard to let out. "All these years that I've known you, I've chased after one stupid boy to another. With each one, I've always broken up with, some worse than others. I'll admit I was surprised to find out Wally was actually... Well... You know..."

She began to walk in circles around Ash. "You know why those relationships never ever worked out, Ketchum?" she asked, looking at Ash. "It's because we're never alike, we don't have the same... Um... Let's say tempo."

Ash raised a brow. Why was she referring to tempos the same way he had? "I've known it all along that was the case. And yet... I desperately reached out for them. Hoping that maybe they could sync their tempos with mine."

Ash looked surprised. "Why were you desperate?" he asked.

May took a deep breath. "I had to take my mind off of someone else. For years, I've known him, and despite the ways I interacted with him, he never got the hint." she explained. "I figured he just wasn't interested. That fact hurt, he had the same tempo as me, we could be in sync. He was perfect, but it seemed uninterested in me. So I tried to focus on other boys."

Ash's eyes widened, wondering if he should dare ask. "Who is he?" He asked, although he already knew her answer.

May let out a sigh and chuckled. "It's you, dimwit." she said, playfully pushing him. "All these years I've hidden it, and you never knew it. Ash Ketchum, I love you."

It was as if the heavens had broken open, and the angels sang those last three words in chorus.

"Song of the century" would be an understatement.

I could have jumped over the Battle Tower, I was so happy. That spark Brendan talked about flashed and exploded like fireworks.

I'm quick to explain that I feel the same way, causing her to squeal in joy. I soak it up like a sponge, and reflect it like a mirror. She leapt into my arms, her eyes sparkling brighter than diamonds.

Her lips are soft. They locked perfectly with mine, as if they were made for each other.

My song and her song became our song. Together they meshed to make music that would make even the most skilled composer green with envy.

The beats, the tune, the cords were perfect, timed perfect, and played perfect.

The only question passing through my head as we kissed was why I hadn't done this years ago.

They broke apart, resting their foreheads on each other. "Why didn't I do that years ago?" May asked with a smile.

We really are in sync.

"Better make up for lost time." Ash said.

They kissed again, right there, in the hall in front of Ash's dorm room.

"I won't be like the others." Ash promised as they separated again. "I promise. I'll never break your heart."

May smiled gently. "I know that already." she said with a giggle. She dug through her pocket and pulled out her iPod. "Wanna listen to some happy music?"

All that time... All those years... She was waiting on me, waiting for me to make a move. I never got the courage, and somehow didn't notice her hints. Obviously she grew impatient, and ran into the open arms of another man.

But their songs didn't go well together.

And then finally, she managed to confess, after all these years. She sang those three unforgettable words, ironically the same night I was going to finally suck it up and sing them myself.

We really are in sync.

The two laid in the cool grass, gazing up at the stars. May was snuggled close at Ash's side. She let out a yawn, blinking her eyes tiredly.

"It's been a long day." Ash said.

May smiled and looked at him. "It had its ups and downs. Luckily there was a really big up."

Ash let out a chuckle, a grin on his face. "So do you think the consolations in the sky are God trying to tell us a story like the clouds?" he asked the brunette.

May shook her head. "The stars stay the same. Clouds tell unique stories every day." she said.

Ash grinned. "Yeah, you're probably right." he agreed. She seemed to always be right.

May nodded in agreement. She let out another tired yawn and snuggled close to Ash. "I love you, Ash."

Ash soaked up those words in sheer happiness. He reached down and kissed her forehead. "I love you too." he replied back.

I wonder if my words, my laughs, my cries, are like music to her.

Do my emotions affect her like music is supposed to? Am I her happy song that makes her happy?

I hope so. She's so beautiful when she's happy.

But it's like her said, it's okay to feel sad and angry every now and then. Sure, we'll have our disagreements and occasional fights. It's only natural. It's part of being human.

But we'll always come back, rushing into each other's arms. And when we do, the fireworks will go off again, and our song will play.

That beautiful song.

Well that was so unlike me. Never written something like that before. It was quite fun, though. I hope you all enjoyed it. It was a bit more of a serious fic in comparison to my other stories, where I seem to be more focused on jokes and cool plots.

I don't know. Oneshots bring my fluff side out.

This is my contest entry for the ADVancers' September 2012 Fanfiction Contest.

Leave a review and tell me what you think. Yea or Nay?

~The Shiny Gengar